I had fun with this, Izzy hated me when she looked at bits of it.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
The fourth of July celebration was bittersweet.
It was a newer thing for the camp to celebrate, Khiron said it was to 'keep us connected to the mortal world and remind us we were part of both worlds'. Some campers liked it if only for the food and fireworks, some didn't because it wasn't part of our heritage.
Plus a lot of the campers weren't even American.
It was a lot of fun despite that. We got food, sodas, sweets, and we got to relax on the beach. There were cool fireworks showcasing the myths, and a few showing dramatic events in the modern day.
On the other hand, Grover was leaving.
He was all packed up with his arm crutches in hand. We'd tried to offer him some of the gear we'd gotten on the quest but he'd refused all but two bottles of unicorn draught and one energy potion, which were both safe for satyrs. I also gave him a sand dollar in case he found a river needing cleaning.
I was pretty pleased with that sand dollar. It was mostly stable and able to draw in power, even if not as fast as it should be.
Annabeth gave him a charm like the bracelet and necklace we'd gotten before the quest. We'd worked together on it for him.
It was shaped like a water-reed with a prayer to Pan on it: Onwards, into the wilds, with faith.
He sniffed and put it around his neck.
"Thanks guys."
Annabeth and I watched together as he shouldered his pack and got ready to leave.
"We're gonna miss you, Grover," I said.
He straightened, turning to us again, "I'm gonna miss you guys too."
"Stay safe," Annabeth insisted. "You have enough tin cans?"
"Yeah and got the medical supplies from Percy."
"What about your reed pipes?" She continued.
"Yes, I've got that too."
"An extra hat in case you lose your first one?"
"Annabeth, Jeez," he huffed with a faint smile. "You're like an old mama goat."
I threw my arms around him, ugh he was taller than me. He hugged me back.
"Where will you be going first?" I asked as I pulled away.
"Kind of a secret," he said apologetically. "I wish you could come with me, guys, but humans and Pan..."
I nodded, trying to shove away all of my worry.
He'd be fine, everything will be just fine...
Maybe I could ask Triton to check in on him occasionally. Just to be sure he was fine.
"Well," he said, licking his lips. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck, Grover."
"You'll do amazing," Annabeth said.
We watched him walk away with the lights of Hercules wrestling the Nemean lion lighting his retreating form.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I stared in confusion at the bottle on my dresser when I woke up. It was a clear stylized jar with a little lightning bolt charm hanging from around the neck.
What was in the bottle held my attention though.
I'd read about them before and seen pictures but seeing one in person was very different.
A Storm Bottle.
Why was there a Storm Bottle on my dresser?
"Hey, uh, Percy," Carl said. "What is that thing? It appeared in the middle of the night and woke me up."
I studied the bottle, being careful not to touch it or bump the table. Inside the bottle whirled a compacted storm.
Storm bottles could be immensely dangerous if one wasn't careful. In the sea they usually held waterspouts or whirlpools, strong ones holding sea storms. This one held a genuine storm, and a fairly strong one.
Opening it without knowing how to guide and control it would result in a lot of destruction.
That was definitely going in the 'never open unless I'm gonna die anyways' pile, at least for now.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
There were three weeks left of the summer camp when I received my mom's letter.
I was happy to hear from her, it was good to hear she was doing well.
The police were apparently baffled by Gabe's disappearance but he'd signed the divorce papers before leaving so mom didn't have anything to worry about. She had a strange feeling the police wouldn't find him.
She got a stipend in the place of Gabe for him posing for Madeline (a new up and coming sculptor whose specialty was super ugly neorealism) who made a sculpture of him. She'd sold it, entitled The Poker Player to a collector, through an art gallery in Soho.
The money was more than enough to cover the deposit on the new apartment that she told me she'd officially moved into the new apartment last week, and had already decorated it some. It was furnished and everything, though she was holding off on my room beyond the basics until I decided what I wanted to do.
She also managed to get the stuff from Montauk, which was still there somehow. She told me she'd drop it off if I wanted to stay at camp for the school year.
On that note she was also planning to go to school and had already paid for her first semester's tuition at NYU.
She'd left a P.S.: Percy, I've found a good private school here in the city. I know the camp has a school program, but if you decide you want to live at home I've put down a deposit to hold you a spot. I'll understand your decision either way.
I folded the note up and decided to wait before making my decision.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
Annabeth had dug out a new book from the Athena library for us to look over. I suspected that it was actually from the Apollo one based on the explosions from that cabin yesterday, though maybe the Apollo cabin took it from the Athena cabin seeing how one of them was seen fleeing the cabin with an armful of books last week.
We were going over the stories in it that were written by a demigod thousands of years ago. It was amazing that the book had lasted so long. So far, we'd read about four quests, each with their own prophecy, a dozen interactions with the Gods, and two interactions with Titans.
Annabeth stretched, "You know, all these prophecies have at least three lines."
I nodded, "Yeah, seems to be a minimum requirement."
She nodded slowly, "So what was the full prophecy the Oracle gave you?"
I faltered, looking at her sheepishly.
"You only told us two lines," She said lightly. "What were the rest?"
I looked away for a moment, staring at the old journal, I wondered if there were others.
"Well," I sighed. "The full prophecy...
You shall go west and face the god who has turned
You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned ..."
"Yeah?" She asked. "And?"
I chewed my lip.
" You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend...
You shall choose to leave what matters most in the end-"
"Oh," she murmured. "Your mom..."
I nodded, finishing the stanza's.
"A gift that was given a life that is saved
Returning home, the sea enraged"
She frowned, "That... who's the one who betrayed us?"
I shrugged, shifting uncomfortably.
"I just kinda... hoped it was technically complete? We could say Ares was the one who called me a friend, I left... I left my mom. The pearls were given to us by my dad, they saved us. And then the earthquake... we returned home after that so..."
She chewed her lip, frowning thoughtfully. "Maybe..."
She looked as convinced as I was, which was to say not at all.
"It's not like we can fight a prophecy, what happens, happens."
She nodded, "Yeah, anyways... look at this."
She seemed distracted, likely thinking over the prophecy, but we turned back to the journal and continued our studies.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
"Okay!"
Silena had Mitchell, Emily, Lacy, Tyrone, and me sitting in front of her. I didn't really know Emily, but Tyrone I could recognize as being the bouncy kid.
"So, the five of you haven't decided if you want to be year-rounders yet. I'm gonna give you the low-down on how the school year works here."
We nodded, Mitchell had a notepad in hand.
"First," she declared. "You need to know the school system."
We all blinked.
Tyrone raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"Camp has a school?"
She shook her head, "Camp is the school."
We stared in confusion.
"Okay," she said. "The main teachers are satyrs and dryads. The satyrs go to colleges and get the degrees and stuff, get teaching licenses, then come here to teach us. We have a lot of really great teachers."
"Ooh," Mitchell murmured.
"As far as the state knows, and I know this from Giovanni's info, Camp Half-Blood, or Olympus Academy as it's known on paper, is a prestigious school for children with learning disabilities with a focus on ADHD and dyslexia."
Mitchell scribbled that down.
"Now then," she continued. "There are required classes, and I'll give you a list at the end so you can look it over, but there are also a lot of fun classes too. And you get to pick your focus once you complete the required classes. You also have to do two training activities a week, minimum."
I raised my hand.
"Yes?"
"What are the focuses?"
"Er, I mean, it's more like you get to pick your classes and they can all revolve around something specific. Like, you could take a bunch of biology classes, and focus on that or something."
"Oh," I nodded. "Makes sense."
"Anyways, the school day here is from ten am to five pm, with breaks and stuff. You can take as many classes as you're capable of."
Emily's hand shot up.
"Yes?"
"How many do most people take?"
Silena grinned, "Well, Clarisse tends to take four to five classes a semester, oh and you can take them in a single semester or spread out over the year, and I know Annabeth takes six a semester, she burned out bad two years ago though so be careful about that kind of workload."
"What language are the classes in?" Tyrone asked.
"Please be Ancient Greek, please be Ancient Greek," Lacy chanted under breath.
"Ancient Greek!" Silena chirped. "Really whatever language is easiest for you, which is Ancient Greek like, ninety-nine percent of the time."
We all nodded, though I would prefer Halmaheran.
Lacy raised her hand again.
"Yes?"
"Do we get fieldtrips?"
Silena nodded, "Sometimes, Mr. D supervises. We only have monster attacks sometimes with him there."
"Ooh," Tyrone said. "Where do you go?"
Silena shrugged, "It varies. We went to Paris one year, and another time to the Georgia Aquarium, they have a back area for demigods did you know?"
"Cool!" Tyrone said, bouncing in his seat.
"Okay, that is... really the biggest info for staying for the school year," Silena tucked back the pale pink tail of her veil. "Any other questions?"
We all considered quietly for a moment.
"Are there any rules that work differently?" Lacy asked. "Like, different from summer rules?"
Silena nodded, "Weekends you can go down the road, to the convenience store or anything else within a thirty-minute walk. There are some restaurants and stuff too. Oh, and curfew is moved to midnight on Friday and Saturday."
"What if we don't have any money?" Tyrone asked. "For the stores."
Silena brightened, "If you don't have family to give you an allowance, or they just can't or won't, then the camp supplies you with a twenty dollar allowance a week, assuming you do normal activities or help out with chores."
"Who has custody of us?" Emily said with a frown.
"The Camp, I think Mr. D is officially everyone's guardian's during the school year."
"Can we visit family?" I asked.
She hesitated, "Well, I mean, yeah. Assuming Mr. D says you can, or you go during a break. But most don't want to leave on breaks because they're at the equinoxes, winter solstice, and other festivals and those are big deals. Oh, you are allowed to go for cultural holidays. Valentina leaves for the Jewish New Year, it's an excused time. Mr. D ensures you make it home safely in those cases."
I nodded, listening quietly as the other three asked a few more questions before they were satisfied.
"Well," Silena smiled brightly. "I hope that helps you make your decision."
"Thanks," I said. "This helped a lot."
She ruffled my hair, giggling at my scowl.
"Happy to help," her eyes gleamed with mischief. "You heard Drew, you're our nephew and as such it's our job to make sure you know what you need to."
She burst into giggles at my expression.
"Drew's not gonna let that go, is she?"
"No-" she laughed "-no she won't."
"Ugh."
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I carefully threaded the water into the intricate sand sculpture Leilani made, she even made pipes!
"Okay," Alabaster said, completely ignoring how hard this was to do. "So you said you got taught the important facts of the sea, can you name every sea deity?"
"No..." I twisted my fingers to make the water slide into the sandy pipes. "There are.... there are too many... but I know..." I flicked my wrist, letting the water twist through the sand pipes without touching the walls of them (or they'd break) "I know a lot of them."
"Name three related to beaches," Alabaster demanded.
I furrowed my brow, twisting the water carefully, a spiral that didn't touch the sides, "Uh, well... there's Eione... nereid of the..." I narrowed my eyes as I split the water up into the different pipes "nereid of the beach shore..." I carefully split my attention, this was hard, especially without seeing the water in the pipes.
"And?" Alabaster prompted.
"Ianassa-" I quickly stilled the water for a moment, trying to figure out how close to the sandy pipes they were. "Um... nereid of... of sea shells..." I carefully threaded the water out, bit by bit getting it through.
"I didn't know there was a need for sea shells," Alabaster said thoughtfully. "Cool. What's the last one?"
"Yeah..." I closed my eyes for a moment, focusing the water, nearly there... "Psamathe... Nereid of..." I flicked my wrists as the water reached the exit "Nereid of the sandy beaches." I grinned as the water slipped out of the openings, and carefully sent more along the trail.
"Got it!" I cried as the sand sculpture suddenly looked like a proper fountain.
"Yes!" Leilani cheered. "It looks perfect. Quick, Aponi, save it!"
Aponi, who'd been standing on standby, raised the thin rock sheet with a sigil drawn on it. She muttered an incantation under her breath and a sudden buzz made me lose focus. There was a surge mixed with a feather-light bouncing sparks that skittered over my skin.
The water lost cohesion, and the sand sculpture collapsed.
...
Oops.
"No!" Leilani rushed over. "What happened?"
"Sorry," I ducked my head. "I lost control for a moment."
"Did you at least get the picture?" She turned to Aponi. "Please tell me you got the picture."
Aponi was staring intently at the rock sheet, mumbling more words.
After a moment of silence, she relaxed, shooting us a grin, "Take a look."
We moved over and gaped at the image.
Aponi had told us that she could make a magic version of a photograph (and was able to make copies of it). It was a trick she'd figured out since phones tended to glitch when exposed to too much Godly energy.
The picture caught the sand sculpture fountain right before collapse, the water still a glittering stream, the shells catching the light on the outside, the sand clearly shaped in rearing Pegasi and unicorns.
It was amazing.
"Yes!" Leilani cheered again. "It looks so good."
I grinned, "It turned out perfect."
"It's my best sculpture yet!" she cheered.
Aponi gasped suddenly, looking at Leilani.
"What?" She asked.
But I saw it too now, above her head...
A curling wave around a mound of... sand. I knew that symbol.
"You've been claimed!" Alabaster cried.
I could see Luke hurrying over as she looked up, "What, whose symbol is that?"
"I don't know that symbol," Luke said, reaching us.
"I do."
They all looked at me as the symbol faded.
"That's the symbol of Psamathe, Goddess Nereid of the sandy beaches."
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
Well, on one hand Leilani was delighted, she was claimed now (and it explained her skills with sand). On the other hand, it didn't get her out of the Hermes cabin, and that made me frown.
Her mom was a sea goddess, shouldn't she be able to stay in the Poseidon cabin? It was only me, not like it would be a problem.
Lord D said no and told me I'd have to ask my dad. Ugh.
Why didn't this camp have more cabins?
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I sat with the Demeter cabin at the campfire tonight, tomorrow was the last day of camp, tonight was the last night.
Since it was the last night we had the bead ceremony.
Luke came to the front after we finished the sing-along while the senior counselors passed out the necklaces.
My eyes widened when I got mine and saw the bead, thank Pontus for the firelight hiding my blushing. The design was pitch black, with a sea-green trident simmering in the center.
"The choice was unanimous," Luke announced. "This bead commemorates the first Son of the Sea God at this camp, and the quest he undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!"
The camp got to their feet to cheer, the Demeter cabin pulling me up with grins.
I flushed as the Athena cabin shoved Annabeth up to share in the applause and we shared flustered looks.
I swallowed hard. I loved the camp, I loved my friends.
I thought of what my Metani, Kronos, said. His offer. I couldn't imagine betraying Triton, my brother. And on top of that, betraying my friends?
Never.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I woke to a form letter on my bedside table.
Dear Perseus Jackson ,
If you intend to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, you must inform the Big House by noon today. If you do not announce your intentions, we will assume you have vacated your cabin or died a horrible death. Cleaning harpies will begin work at sundown. They will be authorized to eat any unregistered campers. All personal articles left behind will be incinerated in the lava pit.
Have a nice day!
Mr. D (Dionysus)
Camp Director, Olympian Council #12
I couldn't help but laugh at the letter.
I'd basically come to my decision, though I needed to talk to Lord D and Khiron to be sure it was okay.
I wasn't sure if I would stay at camp for the school year, but I was definitely going home at least for a little bit.
I sighed but got ready for the day. I had a lot of goodbye's to give.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
Saying goodbye to everyone was hard.
Katie and Suki were year-rounders, but the rest of the Demeter cabin was heading home for the year.
We traded hugs, promised to IM, agreed to try and do a few group IM's to talk about school and make sure everyone's okay.
Five Aphrodite campers were year rounders, including Silena. The goodbye's for there were equally hard, though Drew at least lived near my mom's new apartment (or near enough). If I did end up staying at home I'd be able to hang out with Drew sometime.
We all promised to IM for the release of Avatar: the Legend of Korra, and in general too. Silena made me promise to IM weekly as she hugged me.
Giovanni reminded me to stay safe and a boy from the cabin named Calisto gave everyone (and I did mean everyone) cookies. I reluctantly left the cabin to finish my final preparations for leaving.
"Hey, Percy," Luke called.
I turned, "Oh, hi, Luke."
He smiled tightly at me, a sword sheathed at his side.
"Hey, I was wondering if you could help me real quick."
I blinked, "What's the matter?"
"I borrowed Alabaster's card deck, for a prank you know, but one of the Dryads took it as a joke. And well, they're playing keep away now. I know you're good friends with a few of them, would you help me get them back?"
I blinked, I mean, I supposed I was friends with a few. Grover introduced me to a bunch during our wanders.
"I can try," I offered.
He beamed, "Thanks, Perce. You're a life-saver. Literally, Alabaster would kill me if he found out I lost his cards."
He led me to the forest, leading the way through the trees, deeper in until we were in a clearing with nothing around.
Alarm bells started ringing in my head.
"Uh, where are the dryads?"
"Yeah..." Luke turned to face me. "About that... There weren't any dryads."
I took a step back, realizing in horror that I didn't have my waterskin because I had just been saying goodbye to my friends. My fingers reached for my bracelet.
"Now, hang on," he raised his hands. "Let's talk for a minute."
"About what?" I said carefully.
"What do you think about the Gods?"
I stared blankly, "What?"
"The Gods! The all-powerful beings that can't be bothered to check on their kids. Those being's that accused you of a theft you clearly didn't do."
I bit my lip, understanding blossoming on me.
All those warning signs, the things he's said...
You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.
"You were the thief."
He grinned, "See, you're a smart kid. My Lord had me steal the bolt and the help-"
"Metani wanted you to give it to him, to restore his power."
He blinked, "Meta- um, My Lord needed them. And he almost got them, if not for that satyr." He scowled, adding under his breath, "Grover always ruins everything."
I stiffened.
"Anyways, My Lord wants to offer you a place with us. You should feel honored, he's found a use for you. And it will be far better than being a pawn for the Gods."
"I happen to like some of the Gods, my brother for instance."
Luke shook his head, "Percy, Percy, Percy, your brother is just using you. That's all the Gods do, they use and abuse us, then toss us aside when we no longer have use. My Lord isn't like that though-"
"Don't speak about Triton like that," I snapped. "You don't know him."
"Percy," he held out a hand. "Join me, join Lord Kronos. You'll have a home with him, you won't have to deal with traitorous Gods."
I clenched my fists, "You're just going to leave the camp?" How could he even imagine betraying them? "They need you, you're their friend, their brother, their role model!"
"I'm saving them," his gaze was hardening. "They'll thank me in the end. When the Gods are imprisoned and the Titan's rule again, they'll be free from the Gods."
"You'll kill their family! Their parent's! What about Annabeth? Didn't Thalia die to get you and her here safely-"
"You know nothing!" He glowered at me. "Thalia would be on my side if she was alive. And as for Annabeth... She'll learn. She's too devoted to the Gods right now, they'll let her down and I'll be there to pick her up again."
I stared at him, "You claim you're trying to help her, but you're also planning to let her be hurt?" What was this reasoning? How, how could he ever let someone he cared for be hurt if there was any other way.
Luke shook his head. "You're just a kid, you can't understand how the world works. But My Lord ordered me to give you a chance to join him nonetheless. So decide. Will you join us? Or will you die here?"
"What, your Lord ordered you to kill me if I refused?"
"I can read between the lines of his orders."
I stilled, "You're really going to do this, aren't you?"
He shrugged, drawing his sword. "What do you say?"
I glared, "I won't ever betray my friends and family." Metani might have had some points, but... I could never hurt Triton, I could never turn my back on the Aphrodite or Demeter cabin.
He nodded, "So you choose being a pawn. Well, I gave you the chance. My Lord can't complain."
He tapped his sword, a dual colored blade, on the ground and a hole burned into existence. A glistening black scorpion crawled out of the hole.
I reached for my bracelet.
"That wouldn't be smart," Luke cautioned. "Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet and it's stinger can pierce right through your clothes. Its venom kills in sixty seconds too."
My jaw clenched.
"It was nice knowing you Percy, but you made your choice."
"Luke!" But he slashed his sword through the air and with a warping shadowy ripple over my skin, he vanished.
The scorpion lunged for me and I batted it aside with my hand, quickly snatching my trident charm and stabbing the scorpion before it could lunge again.
I slumped, he tried to...
I blinked at the burn in my hand and lifted it to see... oh.
My palm had a huge red welt, oozing and smoking with yellow guck. It hit me after all.
I looked for water, for my healing, but the clearing was away from the creek, there was no water.
I stumbled, my knees going weak.
I thought of the prophecy: You shall be betrayed by one that calls you a friend.
But that wasn't the only incomplete line and understanding came as my vision grew blurry. Darkness began creeping into my gaze.
I reached for my bracelet again, but for a very different reason.
A gift that was given, a life that is saved
The pearl came loose into my hand.
Returning home, the sea enraged
I smashed the pearl as my world went dark.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a comment, they feed my soul <3
Though those at the camp are all religiously Hellenic Polytheist (worship the Greek Gods) they are still occasionally cultural something else. I spent awhile debating how to handle other religions and I came to the conclusion that I would do it as it is in real life. That means that the Gods are not going to have an interest in getting with someone that is a practitioner of another religion. All that they get with here will be religiously agnostic or pagan even if they still practice other cultures.
What do you think will happen next? What do you think Luke was up to? What did you think of the claiming?
Halmaheran
Metani=grandfather
Terminology
Khiron=phonetic spelling of Chiron
water-reeds= sacred to Pan
Nereid=child of nereus
Eione=the Nereid of the Beach Shore
Ianassa=a Nereid that mythologically does not rule anything known but I decided to give a position for the sake of my story
Psamthe=the Nereid of the sandy beaches
OC's Interacted With
split up by cabin
Aphrodite
Tyrone=Ahprodite child, the boy who's name Percy didn't know, bouncy
Emily=Aphrodite child, aroace
Giovanni=Aphrodite child, always wears suits, likes grenades, has cats
Hermes
Leilani: Psamathe child, Hermes cabin, made the wickedly cool sand sculpture
Aponi: Hekate child, Hermes cabin, did the magic photo
Come yell at me on my tumblr: Percabeth4Life